Olefins, especially hydrocarbon olefins, may be polymerized by a variety of catalyst systems, including those systems containing transition metals, such as the metallocene and Ziegler-Natta type catalyst systems. These polymerization systems, and others, are used to produce millions of tons of polyolefins each year. For the most part however, these polymerization systems are limited to olefins which do not contain functional groups, especially functional groups which are considered to be potentially reactive and/or have the ability to coordinate to (part of) the transition metal containing catalyst system.
The ability to copolymerize substituted olefins is valuable, since the resulting polymers may have different and more valuable properties. These polymers may have improved resistance to chemicals, may themselves be chemically reactive or be able to serve as catalysts, have altered surface properties, etc. Thus methods for the copolymerization of olefins containing elements in addition to carbon and hydrogen are desired.